Fur treating composition and process



Patented Apr. 1934 [UNITE-ID 1,955,618 7 I m mama oomrosmou moses p AND Warren 0. ltferciennanburmfionn assignor to American Hatters and ,ljun'ien Company, Danbury, 00m, acorporatlon of New York No Drawing. ApplicationMarch 28,1931; y ScrlalNo. 52 ,131,, j

. Claims. This invention relates to the art of treating fur and like fibers to give them felting properties,

and to a composition of matter'adapted to impart i wet, are removed fromthe cone and are found such properties to the fibers.

I One of the objects of the invention is to pro- 10 qualities. Another object of the invention is to vide a composition and process adapted for the manufacture of strongly adhering felt.- Another object of the invention is to provide a composition and process which gives fur tight felting provide a composition and process adapted for the production of a fast-shrinking fur. Another object of the invention is to provide a composibe used, either as filler or otherwise.

object of the invention is to achieve a thorough tion' and process adapted to produce a quick starting fur. Another object of the invention is to provide a composition and process that will not discolor the fur fibers.

Another object of the invention is to provide fur or like fibers which may be immediately felted after treatment according to the invention. Another object of the invention is to provide fur .or like fibers which do not deteriorate materially over a long period of time. v Another object of the invention is to so treat fibers adapted to the production of felt that a low grade of fibers may Another oxidation of a constituent substanceof the fibers. Other objects will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

,The invention accordingly consists in the features of composition, combinations of elements, andin the several steps and relationand order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be illustratively described herein, and the scope of the application of which will-be indicated in the following claims.

As conducive to a readierand -clearer understanding ofthe several features, it may be noted that the' subject matter of this invention deals 7 primarily with a composition of matter adapted to affect ormodify fur or similar fibrous animal products in order that felt may be manufactured therefrom into such articles as hats, and also with the art of treating such fibers to give them felting qualities. A process that imparts felting qualities to fibers is known in the art as carroting. The felting of such fibers involvesthe shrinking of the body which they collectively compose and a thickening of the fibers in the sense that the finished, felted product contains a greater number of them to'the square inch'and the body which they compose is usually actually thicker in measurement at the completion of the, felting operation than it was when initially to cling together and -form a definite object which hascertain dimensions. As a result of the felting of these fibers, by the subsequent operations known as starting and sizing, the length and breadth of the hat body are greatly reduced, while the material as a whole gains in thickness and strength. Considering the individual fibers,

this felting operation involves a relative move- 'ment among them whereby, being initially spread out quite thinly, they are finally, at the completion of the operation, densely and tightly compacted together and intertwined, giving the renary usage. a

The exact nature of the change wrought in a furfiber by any particular carroting operation, whereby, under the manipulation given to a body during the felting operation it acts to produce,

collectively with other fibers, the transformation of the product above indicated, is in dispute, various authorities holding different theories which are not entirely in harmony with each other. Although, not being certain which if any of the already advocated theories is correct, I shall not herein enter into any of them in detail, I may use certain terms which have a. significance in connection with one or more of such theories, but I wish it understood that my invention is not limited by any theory, being fully pointed out herein and distinctly claimed, so that any one skilled in this art can understand how to practice the invention and will recognize what is reserved to me by the claims.

Irrespective of particular theories of carroting and felting, it is generally understood that properly carroted fur has the property of wetting whenimmersed in the hot water that is used in the starting and sizing operations, so-called.

Ordinary uncarroted fibers will not readily wet,

mercuric nitrate and nitric acid, and this substance is recognized, when in water solution, as a hydrolyzing agent, being of a corrosive nature with an acid reaction. This heretofore widely used carrot has been known or designated in the art as mercury carrot? or mercury nitrate sultant hat adequate strength to withstand ordlcarrot and how the solution thereof is made is widely known; its acid reaction or acid content has been well recognized, and, being made by dissolving mercury in nitric acid (as fur cutters almost invariably have made it up), the resultant solution includes mercury nitrate and nitric acid, whence come the mercury" or mercury nitrate designations of the carroting solution and its known or recognized acidity or acid content. Fur carroted with this heretofore widely used and well-known solution or carrot is known to increase in feltability with aging, and it has been assumed that this is because this mercury salt is deliquescent, thus causing the fur so carroted to absorb moisture from the air and causing a continuation of the hydrolyzing or cleansing action. I have found in accordance with certain features of my invention that the use of a strong oxidizing agent with a suitable hydrolyzing agent so assists and accelerates the carroting that fur treated with these agents does not require aging and, as a felting substance, presents marked advantages over fibers not so treated.

The usual method of applying a carroting solution to fur is to brushit into the fur while the latter is still on the skin. In carrying out the process of this invention, I preferably apply the solution of the invention in this manner. The fur is then dried and thereafter may be removed from the skin and immediately made into felt, but if, from business or commercial considerations, it is desirable to hold the fur in stock, it may be kept in storage and will be found to undergo practically no deterioration over a long period. Preferably the solution used is a solution of an acid hydrolyzing agent and a strong oxidizing agent. The hydrolyzing agent may be the above-mentioned acidic hydrolyzing agent derived, as above set forth, by way of the "mercury nitrate or so-called mercury" solution, which, as above pointed out, is acid in reaction, containing as it does nitric acid, and includes mercury nitrate as such, and the strong oxidizing agent may be hydrogen peroxide (H202) of in the neighborhood of 20 volumes of the gas to one volume of the liquid, or stronger. Markedly diilerent results are obtained by using hydrogen peroxide of this order of strength over what is possible with weaker hydrogen peroxides.

As I understand it, active qualities of hydrogen peroxide are principally due to the fact that it liberates atomic oxygen, which is nascent oxygen or oxygen in a much more chemically reactive form then the molecular oxygen such as is a constituent part of the atmosphere. The higher the concentration of this atomic oxygen in the hydrogen peroxide solution, the more atomic oxygen will be liberated, and I have found that, with respect to fur fibers, increasing the strength to high concentrations results in a different action upon the fur, possibly due to the breakdown of certain constituent fur substances or molecules, which coact differently or negatively with, or perhaps are able to withstand, an ordinary oxidizing agent, such as represented by hydrogen peroxide in the weaker solutions.

To illustrate further how I employ, in coaction with an acid hydrolyzing agent, a suitable oxidizing agent, I may first note that there is available a so-called 100 volume hydrogen peroxide containing 100 volumes of the oxygen gas to 1 of water, and this substance is known as "Albone C." There is also a still more concentrated hydrogen peroxide containing 200, volumes of oxygen gas to 1 of water. I may use either of these substances as the strong oxidizing agent, and I may dilute either of them with water to obtain the exact desired concentration for a particular kind of fur or other fibers, or to obtain particular qualities in such fibers. Those skilled in this art will understand that owing to variations between the characteristics of difierent kinds of fur, and owing to different manufacturing conditions and differences of temperature and humidity, it is desirable to have different strengths of solutions for difierent conditions.

As illustrative embodiments of the composition and process of the invention, I give the following preferred examples of solutions:

1. To 20 parts, by volume, of "Albone C" which is, as above stated, 100 volume H202, add parts, by volume, of water (thus reducing the H202 to 20 volume strength), and to the solution so obtained add 100 parts, by volume, of 3 Baum solution of mercury nitrate;

2. To 1 part, by volume, of Albone C which is, as above stated, 100 volume H202, add 1 part,

by volume, of 20 Baum solution of mercury nitrate;

3. To 1 part, by volume, of 200 volume H202, add 1 part, by volume, of 30 Baum solution of mercury nitrate.

As preferred ranges of strengths of the hydrogen peroxide on the one hand, and of the mercury nitrate when that is used as the hydrolyzing agent on the other hand, the range of the hydrogen peroxide is from 50 to 100 volumes, and the range of the mercury nitrate is from 7 to 15 Baum. Within these ranges I have achieved very excellent results, using 10 parts by volume of hydrogen peroxide to 1 part by volume of mercury nitrate, and 10 parts by volume of mercury nitrate to 1 part by volume of hydrogen peroxide, and intermediate proportions of these two agents.

By mercury nitrate I mean and intend the known carroting substance passing by that name, and mercury nitrate, as it is known and understood in the art of carroting fur, is acid in reaction and, I am. informed and believe, consists chemically largely of mercuric nitrate Hg(NOa)2--and nitric acid-H(N0a) At all events it is and was made by completely dissolving mercury in nitric acid. Of course the substances are in an ionic state, water is present or added, and there may be other substances present. Among the latter I believe some mercury oxideHgO-to be formed, and acts to a certain extent as an oxidizing agent. The action of the oxygen in this oxygen carrier (which, however, is substantially insoluble and does not release any atomic oxygen) might produce a mild oxidizing action upon the fibers if it is at all available for any such action; at all events, whatever oxidizing action of this heretofore widely used mercury nitrate carrot may be, it is not at all comparable, as I have found in practice, with the character of action or with the results achieved by the solution of my invention. Any oxidizing action of heretofore known carrots is of adifferent character and order from the strong oxidizing action of the atomic oxygen released by the concentrated solutions of hydrogen peroxide above given as a result of certain coactions that take place with the acid hydrolyzing agent. Certain advantages follow from the use of mercury nitrate as the hydrolyzing agent by reason, among others, of the fact that the acid, besides acting as a hydrolyzing agent on the constituents of the fur fibers, eoacts with, and act directly upon,

he hydrogen peroxide or the atomic oxygen made available by the latter to multiply the oxydizing power thereof. In this connection, it may be noted that a fur fiber is of such a complex nature that different constituent parts of it are affected by different specific agents and different strengths of the same agent. I believe that there is some manufacturing standpoint; a fur which shrinks action, interaction, or joint action among, by or between the several elements, ions, compounds or radicals of my new carroting, solution that produces or effects a markedly greater oxidizing of the fur than it has been possible to achieve by any prior carroting solution or process.

Certain marked advantages result from the use of the composition and process herein described. For example, it is possible to make a very tight felt with fur carroted as herein set forth and the fur adheres very strongly, thus making a strong felt. I have found that fur treated according to my invention starts very rapidly, by which is meant that in the so-called starting operation the fibers go together quickly and shrinking proceeds with great rapidity. In fact, fur so treated is found to be a fast-shrinking fur, shrinking rapidly "not only during the starting operation but also during the sizing operation. It is understood among those skilled in this art that the shrinking qualities of fur are important from the rapidly may be turned into completed articles more quickly and with less effort on the part of the operatives than fur not having such qualities. Nevertheless, when a piece of felt made of fur treated in accordance with the invention arrives at the size desired, it stops felting and attains a stability. The shrinking and feltable qualities of fur may be plotted against time and it will be found that some furs start slowlyvand accelerate towards the ends of the process so that it is difficult to hold them at the correct size. The desired propertyof fur in this respect is to haveit start quickly and felt rapidly up to finished size and then definitely attain stability, and fur treated according to the invention has this property.

A very important characteristic of the carrot-" ing composition and process of the invention resides in the fact that the use thereof eliminates all discoloration of the fur. White fur carroted according to the invention is still white. The old mercury nitrate process resulted in discoloration of the fur; when artificial heat wasused for drying, discoloration was accentuated and the fur was of the color of a carrot (whence the I newly formed hat hat of fur treated according to the invention will hold air, thus showing that the fibers started to adhere and shrink immediately they were wet. Also, hat bats or bodies made from fur treated according to my invention, as well as the carroted fur itself, may be stored or carried in stock over substantial periods of time adequate to meet the various needs or conditions met with in the fur-preparing and felt-hat manufacturing arts, without detrimental deterioration and without harmful chemical or other change. Moreover, owing to the fast-shrinking and strongly adhering qualities of this fur, a large amount of per se non-feltable, otherwise known as filler, fur may be mixed in, and in fact large quantities of fiber other than fur may be mixed with fur treated according to the invention, resulting in a good quality of felt at low cost.

The fur treated according to the. invention may be dyed in the usual manner, and it is found that there is no undercast to the fur after dyeing.

From the above it will be readily seen' that there is herein provided a composition of matter and an art of preparing fur or similar material' which attains the objects of this invention, including many distinct practical and useful advantages. Furthermore, the art of preparing the material is one which may be efliciently carried on in a practical commercial manner.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as many changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

'I claim:

1. A carroting solution comprising an aqueous solution of mercuric nitrate, hydrogen peroxide, and nitric acid. r

2. The process of carroting fur which comprises subjecting the fur to the action of an aqueous carroting solution of mercuric nitrate, hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid.

3. As a composition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, the reaction product of a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, in

.combination with atomic oxygen. 4. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises treating fur fibers with the reaction product of an aqueous solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, and atomic oxygen.

5. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises treating fur fibers to the action of an aqueous carroting solution of an acid hydrolyzing agent and hydrogen peroxide.

6. As a composition of matter for the carrotin of fur and the like, a hydrolyzing and oxidizing carroting solution containing hydrogen peroxide and an acid, the acid having a hydrolyzing action on the material of the fur fibers and coacting with the hydrogen peroxide 'to multiply the oxidizing action thereof.

7. As acomposition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, a carroting solution comprising the reaction product of a solution of hydrogen peroxide of at least 20-volume strength and a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, of at least 3 Baum strength.

8. As a composition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, a carroting solution comprising the reaction product of a solution of hydrogen peroxide of a strength of 50'volumes or more and a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, of a strength of 15 Baum or less.

9. 'As a composition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, a carroting solution comprising the reaction product of. a solution of hydrogen-peroxide of a strength ranging from 50 volumes to 200 volumes and a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, ranging from 30 Baum to 3 Baum.

10. Asa composition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, a carroting solution comprising the reaction product of a solution of hydrogen peroxide of a strength in the neighborhood of 100 volumes and a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, of a strength substantially in the range of 7 to 15 Baum.

l1. As a composition of matter for the carroting of fur and the like, the reaction product of a solution of mercury nitrate, acid in reaction, of a strength between 30 Baum and 3 Baum. in combination with atomic oxygen.

12. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises treating fur fibers to the carroting action of the reaction product of a solution of an acid fur-hydrolyzing' agent and a solution, of a strength of 50 volumes or more, of hydrogen peroxide.

13. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises uniting hydrogen peroxide with an agent which multiplies the oxidizing power of the hydrogen peroxide and which is also an acid fur-hydrolyzing agent, and then subjecting the fur fibers to the multiplied oxidizing action of the hydrogen peroxide and to the hydrolyzing action of the acid hydrolyzing agent. la. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises subjecting a solution of an agent which normally is capable of providing atomic oxygen for oxidation to the action of an oxidizing-power-multiplying agent which is also an acid fur-hydrolyzing agent, and subjecting the fur fibers to the multiplied oxidizing action of said first-mentioned agent and to the hydrolyzing action of said second-mentioned agent.

15. The process of preparing fur or the like for felting which comprises subjecting the fur fibers to the action of a carroting solution of an acid agent for hydrolyzing constituents of the fur fibers and atomic oxygen for ox dizing constituents of the fur fibers.

WARREN C. MERCIER. 

